[quote="sahonen"]I've never used a Spotbox but I'm sure like all EVS products it's top notch... but expensive, thus guaranteeing that the MTVGs of the world will never put them on trucks. All things considered, if I had a choice between an HD Omega and a clipstore I'd take the Omega... Primarily because it doesn't require a mouse, keyboard, and LCD that I have no room for to drive it. If that ethernet jack on the back means what I think it does and you can control the omega from your laptop, even better. As long as the truck's TD area has room for a laptop.[/quote] Don't let MTVG fool you, they do have one SpotBox in the fleet, and one SD unit that allows use of a Max as a TD DDR. I think if given the choice, between HD Omega and ClipStore, I'd try my luck with the Omega. I like the simplicity as well as the consistency and no Java based user interface to repeatedly crash.

[quote="Lou Delgresiano"]They still market it for replay, vs TD DDR.[/quote] Even as a replay DDR it's pretty lacking. You can build highlight playlists, but the workflow for doing so is incredibly inefficient, and since it doesn't have simultaneous play and record you risk missing plays while you're building the playlist. We use one at a cable access station to replace two tape decks, while our lead tape op works on a doremi (which has its own shortcomings, but hey, it's cheaper than an EVS!) [quote="mtiffee"]sahonen, you must have little fingers I have a hard time navigating. I'm tired of having to figure out where I have to hit in order to get to a menu- it seems it's never on the actual menu item itself. Sometimes the UI locks up. The VU meters are horrible.[/quote] Once I figure out how far the touchscreen is out of alignment I can just offset where I put my finger to compensate. I agree though, it is annoying and it definitely needs a way to calibrate the touchscreen. The UI does lock up occasionally, but the only time I'm really messing with the UI is while setting things up before the show so it's not too bad. Of course for a broadcast product it's still unacceptable for anything to lock up. The VU meters are good enough to verify that the levels are in the ballpark and that it's not clipping, which is good enough for most cases IMHO. Not defending its shortcomings, just saying they're not complete showstoppers. I've never used a Spotbox but I'm sure like all EVS products it's top notch... but expensive, thus guaranteeing that the MTVGs of the world will never put them on trucks. [quote="Lou Delgresiano"]If it were any other company that had a focus on their customers they'd just replace it.[/quote] The best service policy IMHO would be to ship a refurbished unit out when you get a broken unit in. Then you fix the broken unit and send it out to the next guy that sends one in. That way you get quick turnaround on your repairs and people can get their shows on the air. [quote]I think they're going to be in a real shock that there's not a mass exodus to their HD product, but it's not like Accom that clearly rushed their ClipStore to market. I feel it's still not quite ready for primetime.[/quote] All things considered, if I had a choice between an HD Omega and a clipstore I'd take the Omega... Primarily because it doesn't require a mouse, keyboard, and LCD that I have no room for to drive it. If that ethernet jack on the back means what I think it does and you can control the omega from your laptop, even better. As long as the truck's TD area has room for a laptop.

[quote="Mike Cumbo"]Lou, Comcast has/had a FF on their HD truck here in the DC area. At the beginning of the NHL/NBA seasons the box started having some issues. A few times CSN rented a replacement, a few times FF provided a loaner. As of the last game I worked at the arena, pre-NCAA regionals (two or so weeks back) FF still had the machine and was unable to repair it. "Disarray" is an accurate term.[/quote] If it were any other company that had a focus on their customers they'd just replace it. I think they're going to be in a real shock that there's not a mass exodus to their HD product, but it's not like Accom that clearly rushed their ClipStore to market. I feel it's still not quite ready for primetime. (of course Grass was guilty of the same thing by sending the Kalypso out with some versions of initial software that made it less powerful than a 3/4k).

[quote="mtiffee"]^^ Lou, you quoted me but I didn't say that. Although I agree so that's ok. sahonen, you must have little fingers I have a hard time navigating. I'm tired of having to figure out where I have to hit in order to get to a menu- it seems it's never on the actual menu item itself. Sometimes the UI locks up. The VU meters are horrible.[/quote] Mike, I'm sorry, it was late...

Lou, Comcast has/had a FF on their HD truck here in the DC area. At the beginning of the NHL/NBA seasons the box started having some issues. A few times CSN rented a replacement, a few times FF provided a loaner. As of the last game I worked at the arena, pre-NCAA regionals (two or so weeks back) FF still had the machine and was unable to repair it. "Disarray" is an accurate term.

^^ Lou, you quoted me but I didn't say that. Although I agree so that's ok. sahonen, you must have little fingers I have a hard time navigating. I'm tired of having to figure out where I have to hit in order to get to a menu- it seems it's never on the actual menu item itself. Sometimes the UI locks up. The VU meters are horrible.

[quote=">>sahonen, not mtiffee<<"]I wonder what delayed them. They had to have seen the market for an HD version of their product, especially when for the longest time all these HD trucks were upconverting the SD Omega.[/quote] It's no wonder they took forever on an HD version, when they should have had one on the market three years ago. These are the same people where it takes nearly 30-days to get drive trays from them (yet third parties can overnight the actual drives). I think they're just a company in disarray that happened to stumble across a product that became tremendously popular for a use their R&D never fully intended it to be. They still market it for replay, vs TD DDR.

[quote="Bill D"]It seems like on most trucks the FFV deck is usually under a shelf or in the worst place in the tape room to get to while everyone else is doing stuff.[/quote] I love the trucks like this where it's under the tape desk, yet there's three-four empty rack units at, or slightly above eye level.

[quote="Lou Delgresiano"]I certainly wouldn't agree with the Clip Store being an industry standard. It seems that the industry standard has been defined by two different kinds of HD trucks...those with a 4-channel EVS Spotbox, and those without. The ClipStore and upconverted FFV happen to make up the latter.[/quote] I will agree had my first show with a spotbox today, the best experiance I have had with a "clipstore" to date. The Fast Forward is great and so far I have done 98% of my work on a FF. One ClipstoreMx Show, and One Spotbox show. I am a big fan of the spot box. The truck didn't have xfile, and it was still faster than anything I have worked with to date.

[quote="Bill D"]Although it seems like on most trucks the FFV deck is usually under a shelf or in the worst place in the tape room to get to while everyone else is doing stuff.[/quote] The old Juntunen BAT1 and BAT2 trucks (Now MTVG 14D and 15D) put the FFV in the counter in front of the TD, and I've seen a few trucks that rackmount it in the monitor wall. Pretty handy. The new HD Omega apparently can be controlled via ethernet. I have no idea what this means in practice, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it involved either pointing a web browser at its IP address or running special control software on your laptop. [quote]New one supports Odetics, wonder if this means you can trfsr in clips, for shows that have clip based elements on a drive of some kind and re-cue clips rather then marking in/outs for on one long clip on a lance. Recalling clips via machine control with a Kalypso using odetics would be nice.[/quote] Well, the vintage omega has a feature where you can mark clips and edit them together. I'm guessing odetics will give you access to these clips. I think in practice this would mean you would still have to mark in/outs but on the FFV instead of the lance. Of course this is alll speculation. [quote]They are definitly pretty late to the HD game, they had the truck market and except for those with spotboxes, would have kept it if this came out sooner.[/quote] I wonder what delayed them. They had to have seen the market for an HD version of their product, especially when for the longest time all these HD trucks were upconverting the SD Omega. [quote="mtiffee"]Looks like the same horrible UI.[/quote] What problems do you have with the Omega UI? I know the touch screen can be a little finicky but I never had a problem getting at what needed to be gotten at.

Looks like the same horrible UI.

[quote="sahonen"]From the makers of the original Fast Forward we've all grown to know and love... Does anybody know if any trucks have one of these on board or is Clipstore the new industry standard? Sure would be nice to go back to a regular old rackmount DDR rather than dealing with the clutter of the mouse/keyboard/LCD.[/quote] I understand there is not much room in a truck for a keyboard and mouse, or atleast one that is not designed for it (all of them). Although it seems like on most trucks the FFV deck is usually under a shelf or in the worst place in the tape room to get to while everyone else is doing stuff. New one supports Odetics, wonder if this means you can trfsr in clips, for shows that have clip based elements on a drive of some kind and re-cue clips rather then marking in/outs for on one long clip on a lance. Recalling clips via machine control with a Kalypso using odetics would be nice. They are definitly pretty late to the HD game, they had the truck market and except for those with spotboxes, would have kept it if this came out sooner.

[quote="Rick Tugman"]I wonder if you could use the same drives from the the previous version.[/quote] HD Omega uses SATA drives, while vintage Omega uses SCSI drives. [quote]The ClipStore in it's present state can not hold a candle to Fast Forward form factor and reliability. The Fast Forward is just more manageable plain and simple.[/quote] Oh I agree there. Nothing beats the simplicity of simply being able to record your clips, mark them in the Lance and be done with them. The Windows-based interface is a gigantic downside for the Clipstore. We simply don't need yet another keyboard/mouse/LCD clogging up our already crowded area. I didn't mean industry standard as in the example that all should follow, I mean industry standard as in what everybody is adopting. Most of the HD trucks I see are either an upconverted FFV or a Clipstore. One of the perks of living in an MTVG market I guess. According to the specs sheet it does have a USB port on it... No idea what you can do with it. It certainly seems possible that you could load your clips into it over USB, but you wouldn't gain much speed over just ingesting clips manually... I think throwing in your own drives is still the way to go.

I certainly wouldn't agree with the Clip Store being an industry standard. It seems that the industry standard has been defined by two different kinds of HD trucks...those with a 4-channel EVS Spotbox, and those without. The ClipStore and upconverted FFV happen to make up the latter. I am interested though in what kind of product the HD FFV is, and how flexible its media is. I doubt they'd be forward enough to offer Fire Wire/USB media.

Hi Stephan: Funny I was on that web page Wednesday out of curiosity. I have not seen on in any truck I have been on at this time. In looking at the box it seems to be the same layout configuration as the previous Omega Deck but my question is, does it use the same media as before. I wonder if you could use the same drives from the the previous version. When I bought my drives I made sure to purchase the fast drives. I guess I'll have to make a phone call to see what the deal is. As for the ClipStore being "the new industry standard". The ClipStore in it's present state can not hold a candle to Fast Forward form factor and reliability. The Fast Forward is just more manageable plain and simple. The ClipStore needs a lot of improvement, but then again it wasn't designed to do what it's doing although it does get by. Hope you are well. Best... Rick.